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12/31/14

I've made a few goals for 2015. 2014 was such an amazing year! 11 weeks of bedrest but in the end we have our sweet James. I could have never guess what 2014 was going to bring us. For 2015 I have a few things in mind I would love to accomplish.

1. LOSE THIS BABY WEIGHT! I know this probably shouldn't go at the top of the list, but honestly at this time, I think about my body a lot. You know, I'm not one of those celebs that has a baby and boom back to my regular body. I wish I was, this time after bedrest tho, things have been harder for me. My body was so tired and out of shape for laying down for almost 3 months. I need to do two things. Eat a little better and less junk food and start to walk. My Doctor told me after my 6 week check up I could start slowly with 15 minute strolls per day. I haven't started! I bought weight watchers again, it's been sitting in my phone...empty. I complain about my body to everyone constantly and as cliche as it sounds, I think I'm going to take advantage of the new year approaching and start all over again. I don't want to starve and I'm realistic, but these extra 20lbs I'm carrying around is not fun...anymore!

2. NOT BE LATE, ANYWHERE! I never believe people when they said they were late because of their kids. I thought I have a kid and I'm on time. That is non existant since James has been born. I am now late everywhere, every single day. I'm so tired of it. I get my clothes ready at night, I get the kids clothes ready at night, I wake up early...nothing helps, I'm always super late out of the door. I really want to find a way to manage my time better so I'm on time.

3. LIVE IN THE MOMENT! I think I've gotten better at this but it's something I still want to improve on. I always worry so much about the future. I'm number 1 worry wart. I will say that with the birth of James and through breastfeeding, I've slowed down. I actually like the feeling of slowing down and not worrying about tomorrow it feels good and I hope to keep it up.
Happy New Year!

12/24/14

We've been ridiculously crazy around our home. Everyone has gotten sick with either a cold or the stomach bug. Ardo was first, of course, Ardo is always first. He likes to bring lots of germs home from preschool. Sometimes he keeps them to himself and sometimes he shares the love. This time he shared. James caught another cold....this time tho I noticed things were not getting better quickly as they had done the other couple of times. By the 3rd day I could tell James was getting worse. So we had to make the decision to take James to the er. We went, and the Doctors and Nurses were so sweet and James was such a good little patient. They took a swab from his nose and the swab came back positive for RSV. My heart broke. It's the worse, the absolute worse when babies get sick. They can't tell you what they need, he can't nurse very well because he can't breath. They weighed him at the er and he weighed 13lbs so I'm glad to know he hasn't lost any weight. His cough is the worse tho, I can tell it hurts him. I love the holidays and as cheesy as it sounds I like getting together to celebrate them with not just my family but Jerry's family too. We come together as one big family and it's really sweet. James and I won't be going tonight tho. We asked the Doctors advice and she advised us to keep him home because he is very contagious right now. So tonight it'll be just me and James, and probably reruns of some Real Housewives of New York. Did you guys know HULU has all the real housewives from all the seasons on HULU PlUS to watch? I didn't, but what a nice surprise when I searched and found them. "Who goin check me boo?" 10 stars if you know who said that! Merry Christmas Eve friends! Please Enjoy some Christmas Pictures!

12/23/14

12/12/14

Last week I went to brunch, in the middle of the week, with two of my friends, and it was awesome! I remember when Ardo was smaller I was so afraid of crying spells. You know, thinking back I wasn't very confident in my parenting with Ardo unless Jerry or my sister or Mom or someone who understood was around. I was just afraid of him acting like a baby...then what? Now, if James acts like a 4 month, then he acts like a 4 month, that's it. I deal with it. James happens to be pretty mellow thankfully (so far), but the times he isn't we just get him happy. Nursing him is always a sure fire way to make him happy, he doesn't really take a paci, but sometimes he will and that will buy me a few minutes to figure out what's wrong. Anyway, besides nursing, we didn't need any remedies, James was a champ. Our server was really funny too. He was probably as old as I am, and he saw James and said "oh is he a newborn?" I said, "no, he was 4 months old" and he said, "oh my brother is 7 months old, they grow fast, trust." I said, "oh no I trust you" haha it was a weird exchange of words. We had brunch at Larchmont Bungalow, I've never been but they are famous for their red and blue velvet pankcakes...holy crap these were good. I had it more like a dessert than breakfast but they were tasty!
See that food...gone in 60 seconds...or less!

12/5/14

Okay so, to all of my exclusive pumpers out there, I never was able to get this much milk stored with Ardo, but because this was my second time at the pump, I was much more successful! I've been part of the exclusive pumper club too and if you're out there and exclusively pumping, hooray to your dedication! This post is about how I was able to pump and store 500oz of breastmilk, I keep adding to it, and taking a some away, but last time I checked it was 500oz. I remember in the beginning, I would pull up lots and lots of youtube videos of women latching their babies. I would practice and practice, everyday. My lactation consultant told me that the best way to perfect breastfeeding was to breastfeed. I came across a video of a woman who had pumped and stored 1,000oz of breastmilk. I remember watching that and thinking how on earth could anyone make so much milk!!!
As I said I was an exclusive pumper with Ardo for 6 months. I didn't know that I was an exclusive pumper or that there was a name for it, I just knew I pumped and he took it. When Ardo was 4 months old I went on a 2 day vacation to Las Vegas. I pumped liked crazy, every two hours round the clock for 2 weeks before I went on the trip. While I was in Vegas I didn't think to ask for a room with a fridge or anyway to store the milk so for 2 days I pumped and dumped. I think back and cringe on how I dumped precious liquid gold (some of that milk didn't even have alcohol in it). I was able to store about 50 ounces over what Ardo needed on a daily basis and was really proud of myself, but soon after the trip my body started producing what I felt was less and I had went through my back up so at 6 months we started Ardo on formula. Once we started him on formula I stopped pumping, I wished I could have gone longer but it was so much work and dedication, at 6 months I felt okay with putting my pump away.

As I've said before James was in the NICU for a few days after he was born. I started pumping the night he was born. I wasn't able to feed James directly for a few days so my milk had to come in with a pump. I started every 2 hours for 15 minutes each session round the clock. At night I would go 3 hours but I always woke up at 3 hours and pumped. I was very diligent because I knew to successfully breastfeed I needed my milk supply. I was very tired but I knew if I let more than 2-3 hours pass and my milk supply suffered I would be upset it later. I also thought if James was home right now I wouldn't be sleeping anyway. Everyday I brought my milk to the NICU so we wouldn't need formula. While James was still in the NICU I started noticing James had left over milk. I started breastfeeding in the NICU and James would eat as much as he wanted and after I would pump to make sure I was empty. I was still able to get a little milk after he fed. When we came home and while we were working on his latch I had the same routine. After every nursing session I still pumped. I didn't want to but in the meantime of figuring out his latch and after I got mastisis I pumped every every nursing session. Nursing sessions were taking longer than I liked but I wanted to make sure I didn't get mastisis again either so I tried to keep my breast empty. I purchase a battery operated breastpump. In the event James took a bottle while we were out, I would make that bottle up by pumping in the car, so I never missed a feeding. This went on for a good 2 months. James ate and after I pumped, wherever we were. By the end of the second month I started accumulating milk. We supplemented James less with a bottle after feedings because he was content with breastfeeding but I put a demand on my body for more milk. During feedings that he didn't take a bottle after I just stored that milk and had back up. I just kept with this routine. I breastfed as much as possible. I would switch sides, not once or twice but 3-4 sometimes 5 times each feeding. I also realized this time around I wasn't worried with James crying a little bit. I wouldn't let him scream but with Ardo any crying would make me nervous, with James I just realized, it's just crying and he'll be latched and happy or bottle and happy and his crying would stop. Soon I realized I had an over supply because I started tracking my breastfeeding. I would track how long he fed, how many ounces of breastmilk he took by bottle and how much per day I was pumping. I realized I was pumping at least 5-8 ounces over what he was taking by bottle. I didn't want to stop because I would be going back to work soon. I thought I would rather have more milk than less.

I asked my lactation consultant and she advised me that if James was eating directly from me with less bottles then to pump less. She told me that while an oversupply was okay she didn't want to up my chances of getting mastisis again. I started doing that but it had become such a routine for me to pump after feedings I didn't start pumping less til more recently. James was becoming much more efficient at breastfeeding and his weigh gain was great that the extra milk just started to pile up. No babies we're drinking it! Before I knew it my entire freezer was filled! I had to ask my mom to store some I gave her to market bags full and I still had more. Jerry's parents have a deep freezer so I asked if I could store some in there. I separated it by months and started storing. When I separated it, I counted and sure enough, 300 ounces went into the deep freezer. My mom counted hers and had 100 ounces and I had 100 ounces in my freezer at home. 500 ounces of breastmilk stored. 500 ounces! I couldn't believe! I was on my way to being that youtube woman! So there you have it! I think the thing that helped me the most and I'm sure would help anyone else that wanted to build up a supply is to pump after feeding, in the beginning. Pumping and breastfeeding (switching sides a few times each feeding) really helped my body know that James needed more milk. Then when I did pump after feedings it was always for at least 15 minutes. I know pumping is a pain in the neck and the whole point for me to have a lactation consultant this time around was to be able to avoid pumping, although I wasn't able to avoid pumping this time, I'm grateful to have a huge stash. If anyone has any questions on pumping like a maniac, please feel free to email me or leave your comments below, I'd be happy to help! I really didn't know what pictures to post with this because I was definitely NOT going to post a picture of me pumping, so I leave you with a picture of Jamesy boy, cause you know, whatever I've gone through, he's always worth it!

12/3/14

Today I woke up so tired! We had a very long 4 day weekend. It was wonderful but very tiring. Wednesday my friend Laura hosted a Friendsgiving at her house. I love getting together with my friends, it's so grown up of us to have our own Thanksgiving. My boys get so much love. My family, Jerry's family and my great friends. This weekend of all weekends Ardo came down with a cold. We only spent a couple hours at Jerry's parents house and then needed to bring Ardo home, he just was not feeling well. We stayed inside just about the entire long weekend. I was just about to get cabin fever when yesterday Ardo was feeling much better and we did several dances to Mickey Mouses clubhouse. I'm thankful for my sweet boys. I'm thankful that after all I went through with James he's the healthiest 4 month old. I'm thankful for my family and my sister who comes every single morning to help me with my boys so I don't completely lose my mind. I'm so thankful for my job. I'm thankful for my wonderful husband who loves and supports us. This year has been a great one. Below are a few pictures I took of the boys in their Thanksgiving gear. I really wanted to have this post done before December 1st but with Ardo sick and James not going to sleep before 10pm, it became nearly impossible to do anything. I need some blogger tips on when to blog? I am barely able to blog at home, which is why my thankful post is coming to you on the first week of December! Sometimes I swear I get tired of saying how tired I am. I promise I really do!

11/26/14

We're having a friendsgiving tonight and I'm super excited about it, so for now I'll leave you with this turkey butt!
More turkey talk tomorrow. Aaaand if you wouldn't mind voting for us just click the pig and vote for us at top baby blogs! Thanks so much in advance and have a happy thanksgiving!

11/25/14

I am a HUGE Bravo fan. I love just about everything on Bravo. I watch all the housewives (of course), Vanderpump Rules, Watch What Happens Live, Flipping Out, and I'm really excited about the newest scripted show that is going to premiere next week. I'm mostly excited because I'm a fan of Janeane Garofalo and haven't seen her in anything in awhile. I swear this isn't a plug for bravo and Andy Cohen didn't ask me to write this post, although if he would have I totally would have done it! Okay so back to the embarrassing story. I have Direct TV which means for us our TV runs on east coast time. Watch What Happens Live comes on at 11pm east coast which means 8pm west coast, which means I always watch it live (when I can). 8pm is usually the time I'm trying to put James down for the night and if not for the night he always eats at 8pm. That means we snuggle on my side of the bed and I'm bonding with James and Andy Cohen and whatever guest he has on that night. Two Mondays ago I was on facebook and saw that Sherri Shepard and Kenya Moore were going to be on Watch What Happens Live. If you haven't seen the show, it's a fun late night show that takes live phone calls and tweets and facebook messages and Andy asks the guests those questions live on his show. I've always wanted to call in but never have. After watching Atlanta's premiere I decided it was time. I had a question for Kenya Moore and I wanted it answered!! (truth be told I can't stand Kenya! I know I don't really know her so I'm gonna say I can't stand her character, although if you saw the show Sherri Shepard didn't seem to like her either) I did think it was weird that they were having Kenya on Watch What Happens Live on a Monday because usually Andy has guests on the night of their own shows. But facebook said she was gonna be on, so it must be true! I tell Jerry and he's cheering me on telling me to call. So I call:

Jerry just looked at me then starting yelling "what happened, why did you hang up!!"
But I just got scared, I really wanted to ask Kenya why she continues to play the victim when we can all see that she isn't! But when they picked up, it scared me. Jerry urged me to call back because since they picked up, I might get through to Andy, and I just love him. So I gathered up all my nerve and called back!

Person who answers Watch What Happens Live phone: HELLO! What's your question?Me: I want to ask Kenya why----Person who answers Watch What Happens Live phone: Excuse me ma'am ma'am, the kids from Vanderpump Rules are on tonight. Me: What but facebook said...Kenya was on with Sherri Shepard?Person who answers Watch What Happens Live phone: Oh no she'll be on on Sunday after Atlanta..Do you have a question for Tom or Ariana?Me: No. :( (I wasn't prepared for another question! I barely worked the nerve for this one!)Person who answers Watch What Happens Live phone: Okay thanks for calling!

I hang up and just start cracking up! Not only did I think I was so cool and gonna call Kenya out, when I had the first opportunity I hang up cause I'm scared. Then I finally work the nerve up to call back she isn't even on that day! I'm so lame!
I didn't wind up calling when she was on the following Sunday but someone did ask the question for me. I'm still laughing at myself for that one.

11/24/14

I've never been a coffee drinker. (are you gasping? usually people do when I tell them that) I have just never acquired a taste for it. Whenever I go to starbucks I usually get Vanilla Bean. Seasonally I will get Peppermint Mocha (my fav) but I can't taste the espresso in it. That peppermint is just too good. On my way to work I usually want something in the morning. There's a starbuck nearby but it's kinda outta the way, and since I'm usually late I don't always go. There's a McDonalds much closer and the drive thru is usually empty or goes really fast. I probably shouldn't be eating either of these, but I can't help it. I usually get a breakfast sandwich and an orange juice. I knew McDonalds had ice coffees and frappes but I never really gave them a second thought. One day I was ordering my breakfast as usual and the frappe mocha caught my eye. I gave it a try and omg, I absolutely love them! I'm totally addicted! I have been getting a few a week for the last 3 weeks. I gotta kick my habit! I'm not too concerned about my breastmilk because I pump before work and I don't but again for a couple hours after I drink them so that doesn't help to kick my habit. They aren't very expensive so again, I don't have a sure fire reason to kick my habit. I'm trying my darndest to start weight watchers but these little guys do me in! aaaah how do you kick something that tastes so good??
Look at that whip cream...mmmmmmm

11/21/14

Babycenter likes to send me my updates about James all the time. Is your baby rolling over? Is your baby babbling? How much your baby should be eating? Most of the time I'll read these or delete them, whatever I want. This time around I decided not to take what every baby is doing too serious. I did that with Ardo and mainly it drove me crazy. Today I received an baby sleep basics email and I found it VERY interesting. Babycenter was informing me James could/should be sleeping about 16 hours a day (they also said 10 1/2 is fine too but I'm focusing on the higher number) Oh lawd, I wish! James does not take naps very well at all! He takes maybe one per day, and he's only 4 months old!! On the days he's home with me he barely sleeps. It's kinda driving me a little crazy because although I love my time with him (don't we as mom always feel the need to say how much we love our kids before we complain) I would love it even more to get a quick break. He usually sleeps if I go somewhere, but to be honest that's the time I wouldn't mind him awake. He'd be able to look at all the new surroundings and people, but of course that's when he snoozes. He will sleep at home in my arms but as soon as I put him down, boom, he wakes right up. I know his sleeping schedule will go up and down and I'm not holding out any hope he'll start sleeping super long stretches at night but during the day would be just fantastic! Any advice on how to get my little guy to nap longer??
He's usually like this >
But I'd love him more like this >

11/19/14

I am breaking up my breastfeeding story because it's long and not something I wanted to rush into one ridiculously long post. Part 1 is here and now onto part 2.

Once I got home, everything went to hell in a hand basket. James still latched and he was eating every 2-3 hours but I somehow lost all the confidence because I was home by myself (how odd my wonderful nurses didn't want to come with me!) I only stayed in the hospital one day after James was born so when we all finally came home, my body suddenly realized it had been on bedrest for 11 weeks with no rest and now my body was TIRED! Suddenly on one side, James' latch started to hurt, I could tell it was shallow, he was eating but I was still pumping after and then I started topping him off with breastmilk but that meant nursing session took 1-2 hours! I was crazy exhausted. Jerry didn't get his maternity leave til September so the next Monday, Ardo needed to go to school and I was freaking out. Thank goodness my mom helped me out by taking Ardo to school for a few weeks. I started feeling very overwhelmed and then my nipple cracked. As soon as it did, I called a lactation consultant and got help. I knew how this would go if I didn't get myself help and I definitely wanted to continue breastfeeding and I wanted to cut the pumping if I could. Jessica (my lactation consultant) was amazing! I loved her website because she specifically says, don't shower, don't clean, stay in bed if you want, I will come to you!
She reassured me that whether I had to pump or I could directly breastfeed, getting James fed WAS the most important thing. I guess I knew that, but to me the most important thing was breastfeeding him, so hearing out loud that breastfeeding WASN'T the most important thing, really put me at ease. Jessica helped me learn to properly latch James, and the importance of breastfeeding on both sides and then again on both sides, and then again! The hospital encouraged me to only breastfeed for 15 minutes. Jessica threw all those rules out and gave me a new set of rules. I felt so much better. Not only did I now have some direction, I had Jessica's phone number. She told me I could text her whenever I wanted, and I did. She was such a cheerleader for me. About a week later I wound up getting mastisis. I actually wasn't shocked, I was so stressed, my nipple had cracked and I didn't always offer James my breast multiple times to try and empty them. I didn't experience it with Ardo so I talked to Jessica and did the best I could. Thankfully for me, the fever only lasted one day and I didn't need meds, James ate and ate and I pumped and pumped to make sure I was getting completely emptied at each feeding. I am so happy I got help this time around for breastfeeding. I didn't want to give up, and I knew if I didn't get help, for sure I would give up. I know so many people do stop because it's so many things at once. You've had a new baby, you're exhausted, you're stressed and it starts becoming not worth all the stress. Even my lactation consultant said, if you start dreading and hating feedings, stop! I nurse James now, just laying in bed and him just eating away and I think about the first month, I'm so glad I kept at it. It's now going on 4 months and my milk supply is well established...a little too established (I have a bit of an oversupply) and James is getting his chubs.
With Ardo, I sorta kept him on a schedule with eating and sleeping. He ate every 2-3 hours for awhile but inbetween those 2-3 hours I really didn't offer him more. He gained weight slowly and I now I know that was probably part of the reason. Our Dr said he was fine but he could have stood to gain another pound or two. James is not having any problems gaining weight. That little guy eats whenever, wherever and however much. I only control his food if I bottle feed him but even then, I offer him a 3oz bulk feeding and then an ounce after that until he is full. So while our little journey has not been easy, I'm so happy to say James hasn't had any formula (a decision Jerry and I wanted early on), he's gaining really well and my love for lactation consultants is tenfold. :) The next part of this breastfeeding story is how I was able to pump and store 500 ounces of breastmilk!

11/17/14

On Saturday we celebrated a friend of mine from high school's 30th birthday. He and his boyfriend rented out a little place in Newport right on the beach. It was gorgeous! Days here in Southern California have finally started to cool down. The party started at 1 and we got there at 1:30, I'm considering that a huge victory because I can't tell you how late we've been getting everywhere now. Another thing I had heard about having a second baby, how hard it is to get out of the house, you people weren't kidding! I absolutely love getting together with my friends. My best friend (forever) Izzy hadn't met Jamesy boy yet. I gave her a hard time and told her James didn't want to meet her now! Ardo loves the beach so we took his sand toys and let him play near the house. He thought he was so cool playing in the sand with his jeans on. We had such a wonderful time.

Izzy with Jamesy boy, for some reason he liked her!
We've been friends since kindergarden, that's all
The birthday boy was going to take the plunge and dive into the ocean....but at the last minute decided against it! haha. He did wind up going in...a little. I don't blame him that water looked cold!

11/14/14

Denny's was never really my restaurant of choice for a quick breakfast. Jerry loves Denny's and I love food so I quickly cave when it comes to choosing where we should grab breakfast. Denny's has been advertising pumpkin pancakes and that really sparked my interest. I pretty much like all things pumpkin. Last week after my mom's trip to the Dr (she received another clean bill of health FYI) we wanted to stop for a little breakfast. We decided on Denny's...or, hmmm, did we decide or maybe I was just the driver and took us where I wanted? Either way, we ended up at Denny's. OMG the pumpkin pancakes were soooo good. You didn't even need syrup because the butter was a cinnamon flavored whipped topping. THE BEST! I think they might have them through November, I gotta go at least one more time. I just love when you don't have to drive super far to get something so delicious.

I always feel the need that these posts aren't sponsored. 95% of my content is just me sharing, what I did, where I went and I what I like, but again this is not sponsored by Denny's, the pumpkin pankcakes are just the bomb!
My two sisters. I got hot chocolate and Mariah got pumpkin coffee. I just can't with coffee taste. I hear so many people talk about it and it sounds like it would be great but I just don't like the taste.

11/12/14

Jerry has been wanting to take Ardo to the movies. I've been hesitant because he's not a great TV watcher. I'm not complaining, although sometimes I will set him up with Yo Gabba Gabba or Jake and he watches for a little bit, while I'm doing something with James. Jerry had a lot of confidence in him tho so off we went to see Big Hero 6. We had a gift card so we figured if he hates it, at least we aren't spending cash. We asked Jerry's mom to watch James for us because I wasn't sure how he would do with the really loud noise. Jerry is big on Ardo having his own time with us...for me, I'm a second born child and I very strongly feel that Ardo had us all to himself and now it's sharing time. Although I did agree I didn't want the loud noise to scare James, so we left him with his Abues. I haven't been to the movies in a really long time. The last movie I saw in the theater was Horrible Bosses and now they're coming out with a second one so its been a few years. We went a little crazy at the concession stand because we went hungry...HUGE MISTAKE. We bought hot dogs and pretzels and nachos and red vines and large sodas and of course popcorn. We got to the movie about 15 minutes before previews. Previews started and Ardo was super excited. After the 6th preview I think he thought that was the movie because he said he was ready to go home. haha. When the movie did finally start Ardo did well, he paid attention and sat through most of it and only needed to be bribed with a little bit of popcorn. You know what the best part was? There we so many kids making noise and crying and talking really loud, no one seemed to notice each other. I love that. I wasn't the only one shushing my kid and I got no side eyes, what a relief. I'm really glad we took him. I think the highlight besides the movie itself was that the movie theater had a big Baymax in the lobby. Ardo FREAKED! He thought it was the real thing. He went right past the rope they had to separate us from Baymax and gave him a huge hug!
I love this smile he's been making lately for his pictures. It's so sweet!
I got a picture with him too but I guess I put my make up on with my eyes closed cause my make up looks all kinds of weird. This picture is much much better!

11/11/14

I've been wanting to share about my experience but oh LAWD where do I begin. I know I do this a lot but I didn't start this blog til Ardo was 10 months old. There are things I never shared on here about the beginning days of mommy hood. So here goes...When Ardo was born, he was in the NICU for a few days. I didn't know I had the power to say, I want my child to have breast only. At least the next day, I didn't know, so I let the Dr's and nurses give Ardo a bottle of formula and pumped milk. When Ardo came home I tried to breastfeed him. I had seen so many movies and read so many blogs, I just figured he would latch right away with no problem. Well there was a problem, a big ole problem. He had nipple confusion and didn't want to latch. He didn't want to latch, he wanted milk now and I was really scared of him crying to long. I would try and try and nothing! I reluctantly and unknowingly became an exclusive pumper. Can I tell you the life of an exclusive pumper is so hard! I was always so worried about being away from my pump for too long and Ardo was also hard to soothe. He didn't take a paci so I was always pumping, so he could have milk. It was stressful and when he turned 6 months he wanted more milk (which now actually I think my milk was just balanced) and I felt I wasn't producing enough, so the day I needed to supplement with formula, I felt I did as much as I could and I started to wean myself from pumping and started Ardo on formula. It took me soooo long to get over the fact that I couldn't breastfeed the way I had always imagined. I couldn't believe it didn't work out. Every blog and every instagram made me feel like I was the only one that had "failed." I swear every other person I knew had absolutely no problems.
When I became pregnant with James I knew I didn't want a repeat. I started by asking Laura for good literature. I realized I really needed to educate myself on how breastfeeding works. She suggested The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding as a go to guide. I read the book cover to cover and even continue to refer to it with any questions I STILL may have. Since I was on bedrest, I also took advantage to asking the nurses any questions I might have and because I saw my Dr every single day (a perk of bedrest, I love her) I continued to ask her as well. When James was born and needed to be in the NICU I took action. From day one I expressed to the nurses and his NICU Dr I want to breasfeed as soon as possible! To ensure my milk supply the night James was born, I started pumping, I got very little colostrum, but one thing I had already learned from Ardo was that I needed to pump to be able to breastfeed. I pumped round the clock every 2-3 hours. Rarely going longer than that. When it was time to breastfeed, I immediately even without being told made an appointment with the lactation consultant they had available at the hospital. I breastfed as much as I could and still pumped after to make sure I was emptied so my body knew I needed more milk. I did this routine til James came home. I was very confident in the hospital because James' latch seemed strong and I needed less and less help from the nurses. I bought my brest friend before James left the hospital and I left with a sense of confidence! That is...until I got home.
Ardo spent a lot of time asking me what I'm doing.
I spent my time explaining to him and he thought it was funny…still does.

11/10/14

I go to sleep on Friday night and I think a little troll might come in and make a huge mess because I swear I wake up to the apartment upside down. Then since it's already a mess, I just go with it! Laundry is everywhere...Goliath is laying all over everything, and in the midst of it all, my boys want waffles. My waffle maker is the greatest, I don't know how much she loves me tho because I always wind up doing this >
I swear I don't mean to, but I somehow always overpour.

I come out of the kitchen and there's Ardo playing with his hungry, hungry hippos. I appreciate so much that he looks at the camera and smiles on his own. It's so sweet.
I made a few more waffles and actually got one right this time! No spillage!
Before I leave the kitchen, this guy was like...um where's my waffles??
That towel is not Goliath's bed, but no one told him that!

11/7/14

You know how sometimes you just don't have time to grab your big camera, cause lets me honest, a nice capture with you Nikon or Canon really take the cake. But so many days I have my camera where Ardo can't reach it and that means it's tucked away where I would have to get out of bed...uuuh no. These are pics I have on my iphone because Ardo can't help but say, "Mommy take picture me" whenever he's around his baby brother.

Sometimes I look at James and can't believe he's here and that I have two boys! Here's to a Happy and probably crazy weekend!